Education Commons^™

Teacher-Training Across Cultures: A Workshop Given In The People's Republic Of China, Victoria Rose Badalamenti

MA TESOL Collection

This paper deals with a specific teacher training workshop which was given in an English for Special Purposes (ESP) Program to Chinese ESL teachers for a period of six weeks in the People's Republic of China. Both the Chinese teachers and foreign teachers worked together in language teams and provided English training to Chinese professionals who were going to go on training programs in English speaking countries. Although well-versed in ESL theory and teaching styles, the teachers lacked the ability to connect their passive knowledge of teach­ing with the reality of teaching in the classroom. This workshop aimed to have …

Teaching Communicative Competence To Adult Learners: An Intensive Foreign Language Program In China, Wang Lingjun

MA TESOL Collection

The main purpose of this paper is to explore some feasible ways in which communicative competence can be taught at the Beijing Second Foreign Language Institute in Beijing, China. In the first part of the paper, a portrait of the institute's intensive language program, including its philosophy, a brief history and a description of the students, is provided so that the readers will have some idea why the paper is focused on communicative competence. Language is then described as a communication process involving linguistic, interactional and variational competence. The main part of this paper focuses on some innovative techniques by …

A Manual For Teachers Of Tutorial Courses, Eduardo Reyes Torres

MA TESOL Collection

This project is written for instructors who are teaching tutorial courses. It discusses items such as methodology, techniques, use of outside resources, curriculum, lesson plans, homework and activities in the class.

The project was written based on personal experience while teaching a series of tutorial courses for the School for International Training.

The Drama Approach In E.S.L. Teaching An Exploration Of The Richard Via Approach, George Edward Matthews

MA TESOL Collection

This project is an attempt to explore the English Through Drama Approach developed by Mr. Richard Via of the University of Hawaii. Special attention is given to the approach's techniques, thoughts on the use of a play in the classroom, practical objectives for the use of drama, and the kind of teacher this approach requires.

There are three short case studies illustrating this writer's work with the Via approach.

A Journal Through Tulancingo, Loretta Gray

MA TESOL Collection

This professional project analyzes the essential parts of a lesson plan/teaching journal format. It is described using examples from personal experience and examples found through research. This project also asserts the value for using such a format for all those concerned with effective pedagogy: the novice teacher, the experienced teacher, the teacher­ trainer, and the students.

American Humor As A Vehicle For Teaching Esl And Understanding American Culture, Marguerite Kruse

MA TESOL Collection

"American Humor as a Vehicle for Teaching ESL and Understanding American Culture" focuses on the use of different kinds of humor as entry points into an understanding of American culture and as examples of real language for ESL activities. It is a collection of self-contained activities designed for the advanced ESL student which develops both oral/aural and reading/writing skills, The topics of the activities are Norman Rockwell illustrations, psychiatrist and mother-in-law jokes, comedy routines of Bill Cosby and Lily Tomlin, and newspaper articles by Erma Bombeck and Mike Royko, Included are a rationale, analysis, and discussion.

An Experience In Training Chinese E.S.L. Teachers In The People's Republic Of China, Albert Camhi

MA TESOL Collection

In this paper I have related the most important occurrences of my initial experiences in teacher training in the People's Republic of China. It deals with the problems I encountered working with the Chinese. It also treats the cross-cultural awarenesses that developed which helped me to deal with my trainees more effectively. Though the awarenesses relate specifically to Chinese culture, I think that anyone who plans to train teachers from different cultural backgrounds might gain some perspective from reading this.

Language Acquisition Diaries: Developing An Awareness Of Personal Learning Strategies, Abby Asher

MA TESOL Collection

During the summer of 1982, I led a group of Outbound students to Switzerland on a language/homestay program. Before going abroad, students underwent an intensive French course at North Adams, Massachusetts for a period of ten days. Afterwards, they spent approximately one month living with families in the French region of Switzerland.

In the course of this paper, I will describe the implementation of a project developed for these students which involved the use of Language Acquisition Diaries. The purpose of this project was to create an awareness in students of their own language learning process. Through the use of …

Van Gogh’S Irises And Other Things To Read For The Esl Student, Thomas Griffin

MA TESOL Collection

"Van Gogh's Irises" is a collection of twenty, original short texts, all under 900 words. Included are eight fictional pieces, six "journalistic essays" in which an opinion on a given issue is expressed, and six "descriptive essays" in which the author aims at pure description of an object, event or place. The pieces are followed by "Suggestions for Using the Texts in the ESL Classroom," a compilation of ideas for activities to encourage comprehension and discussion of the texts and, eventually, composition by the students themselves.

The subjects of the texts are all common, inspired by experiences in everyday life. …

Authentic English For Italian Professionals, Kristin Single Hagge

MA TESOL Collection

This project is an attempt to fill a need that I began to identify as soon as I began teaching in Rome, Italy. It includes an introduction to the idea of using timely authentic sources of material for teaching English to Italian professionals and contains eight lesson plans that are based on such materials. It provides a guideline for using materials which might be used in conjunction with or as an alternative to a textbook. These ideas should be of interest to all teachers of English as a foreign language.

Grammar Charts For Advanced Esl Levels: A Teacher’S Reference, Francis Mausley

MA TESOL Collection

This project consists of twelve grammar charts presented in a concise box form. Each chart illustrates several generalizations about the usage of a part of speech. The charts contain such items as: types, categories, sequence tendencies, structure patterns, word and phrase examples, specific functions, transformation processes etc. etc.

The work is intended as an ESL teacher's reference and the format has been designed to present the content in an efficient manner. Each of the twelve charts deal with different subjects and are therefore divided into twelve separate units. All units contain the following four sections:

A. Definition and Assumed Learning …

An Esl Program For A Bilingual Elementary School, Mary Kelly

MA TESOL Collection

This project is an English as a Second Language Program designed for a small elementary school class in a bilingual French-American school.

The first part of the project includes a description of the school environment and an examination of my personal as­ sumptions about learning and teaching. This examination takes the form of objectives which I set for myself and my students in order to clarify my priorities and determine what I wanted to accomplish as a teacher.

The second part of the project includes my ESL syllabus, as well as weekly and daily lesson plans. The weekly and daily …

First Language (L1) Interference In Second Language (L2) Learning (Suggested Techniques And Procedures To Aid Spanish Esl Students Overcome First Language Interference), Burnis Lewis

MA TESOL Collection

"First Language (L1) Interference in Second Language (L2) Learning: Suggested Techniques and Procedures to Aid Spanish Speaking ESL Students Overcome First Language Interference;" explores the evolution of the issues in the area of language interference and particularly the first language interference problems of Spanish speaking ESL students. A contrastive analysis is performed examining similarities and differences of Spanish and English. Theoretical predictions are checked out with actual Spanish speakers learning English. Finally, techniques and procedures are suggested to overcome first language interference.

Using Student Generated Material In A Student Centered Classroom, Katherine Rawson

MA TESOL Collection

This paper deals with a description and analysis of activities I developed for producing and using student generated material in a student centered classroom. The activities were developed during two months of student teaching in Mexico. The paper begins with a discussion of student centered learning, the role of the teacher and the role of the student in a student centered class, and how student generated material fits into this. The following section is divided according to each of .three· classes I taught in Mexico, and these include both children and adult classes, at beginning and intermediate levels. This section …

Shifting Responsibility For Learning From The Teacher To The Student, John W. Harmsen

MA TESOL Collection

This paper discusses a personal approach to teaching ESL which encourages greater student responsibility in the learning process. The project is designed to assist teachers who are interested in developing a teaching style which increases student initiative with the goal of helping students become increasingly independent, self-directed learners.

The project is organized into two main sections. The first is a discussion of the rationale and implications for teachers and students in this approach to teaching. Included also is a discussion regarding the necessity of meeting the affective needs of the learner. The second section presents a variety of different activities …

An Introductory Course On Computers For Esl Students, Anne Christenson Rice

MA TESOL Collection

This paper details the process of creation and an evaluation of a computer course for non-native English speakers.

The Process Of Lesson Planning, Ren Zhen

MA TESOL Collection

This paper shows how to prepare a lesson plan for an ESL classroom. It is based on the author's personal experience as a beginning teacher. The paper presents an overview and the author's view of the process of lesson planning and discusses the factors which affect teaching. At the end of the paper, sample lesson plans are provided to further illustrate the author's idea.

A Primer In Computer Literacy For Students Of English In A Second Language, David Allen Reynolds

MA TESOL Collection

This series of seven readings for ESL students covers various topics in computer literacy. Their main aims are cognitive formation of basic concepts in computer literacy and acquisition of vocabulary pertaining to those concept areas. The intended readers are sixth grade students with an intermediate ESL ability. Grammatical structures are limited to those covered in an intensive beginners' course. Non-technical vocabulary ±s limited to a 1000-word frequency list. The readings are written at a fourth grade reading level according to Fry's Readability Scale.

Original Readings For Esl Learners, Robert G. Schnelle Jr.

MA TESOL Collection

Readings for ESL students are too often simplified and controlled. Literature that has been thus tampered with cannot bring satisfaction to learners who have achieved the intermediate levels of proficiency. They need pieces which are authentic in usage. Furthermore, if they are to be actively engaged in what they read, students must have access to material which touches their experience and invites them to reflect upon their values. This collection of original fiction attempts to address both concerns: a)the passages are written with the intent that they be affectively stimulating; and b) they replace simplicity of structure with brevity, making …

Beyond Minimal Pairs, Erica Tesdell

MA TESOL Collection

In this paper, the author describes her experience teaching Standard American English pronunciation to speakers of other languages. She goes on to explore new ways of teaching pronunciation and explains why she thinks they can be more effective.

Art Activities For The Esl Classroom, Sally Elizabeth Stocking

MA TESOL Collection

Teachers often use visual aids in language teaching. In the art activities presented in this paper, students involve themselves in creating their own visual aids, e.g., pictures, collages, and puppets, and use them as a basis for expressing themselves in various language activities. The seventeen art activities in this paper can be used to review specific grammar points, to provide practice in conversation, and to improve writing skills. Designed for intermediate English conversation students, these art activities are intended to involve no more than half of a sixty-minute class period.